It was already past noon, and Song Zhenping and his sister had come out early in the morning; everyone was hungry.
Using the small clay stove, Song Liyun heated up the steamed buns and mantou she had bought from Qili County, and the four of them began to eat while drinking the brewed tea soup.
Song Liyun was willing to spend money on food, and these were all the best-tasting items.
Song Zhenping wolfed down his food, but Xiao An held onto the large steamed bun without opening his mouth: "Black Gold!"
They came out, leaving Black Gold at home to guard the gate, while they were still hungry.
Xiao An wanted to save her share of the steamed buns for it.
Song Liyun patted his head and took a basket from the car to show him. It was full of snacks: "Xiao An, you eat first. If you're full, we can push the car home. Only Black Gold gets to eat."
Xiao An smiled and carefully ate the big steamed bun.
Back at Baolin Residence, Song Liyun and Han Ming didn't mention Qili County or the bandits again.
When Song Liyun was buying things in Qili County, she had considered that when there were more and more vegetables and the Suijinwei garrison could not finish them, she could send them to Tianxianglou to sell.
At prices there, at least ten times that of Broken Gold Town, you could buy things yourself.
But now that Min Gande has come up, she and Han Ming can not only not go to Qili County to buy groceries, but they also have to be careful in Suijin Town, on the verge of someone coming to retaliate.
Song Liyun complained inwardly, but there was nothing she could do in that situation. It was his own fault for courting death, harming himself and making it so that he couldn't even earn money.
Baolinju has returned to its former state, where people spend their days planting vegetables, feeding rabbits, and grinding acorns, and their evenings reading books, looking at pictures, and drooling over them.
The rest of the time, everyone would stay indoors and think about food, creating all sorts of creative noodle dishes.
For now, we don't need to worry about anyone sneaking into Broken Gold Town to retaliate.
There was nothing that could be done about it. It started snowing again the night Song Liyun returned, and the heavy snow kept falling.
The snow was waist-deep, making the roads difficult to walk on, and the tree branches were frozen into icicles.
Black Gold couldn't relieve himself in the thicket outside the house and was pacing around in circles, holding it in.
Finally, Han Ming and Song Zhenping built a bionic forest in the backyard using tree branches, which solved the problem of Hei Jin having to hang on a tree to defecate.
Two days later, after the snow stopped, Song Liyun and Han Ming went out again.
The two pulled the cart through the snow towards the town.
Now that Boss Mu's shop has closed down, the acorn tofu he used to sell there has been moved to the Respect for the Elderly Hall. Not only can Old Man Zhang and the others have acorn tofu to eat, they can also earn an extra four coins.
At this moment, besides acorn tofu, there was also a large pile of firewood on the Song family's cart.
In winter, missing a meal won't kill you, and you can manage with water, but missing a day's worth of firewood will truly freeze you to death.
With the heavy snow blocking the doors, the heating problem in Broken Gold Town has arisen.
Before Song Liyun's cart even arrived, Old Man Zhang and the others came out of town to greet her, and the group of people escorted her inside.
On the other side, Xue Zhuang and Xu Yan'er were also pushing a cart.
Today, Xue Zhuang went to the garrison and not only got a hundred catties of firewood from the quartermaster Wang Zhong, but also borrowed a basket of charcoal.
Charcoal is a good thing; it's much better for heating the house than burning firewood, which produces a lot of ash.
The fact that the garrison would provide him with a basket of charcoal was a sign of how much the garrison valued him.
Xue Zhuang spoke with pride about how glorious he was when he was in the garrison, while Xu Yan'er looked on with admiration, her eyes sparkling.
Seeing that Xue Zhuang was so excited that spittle flew onto his chin, he quickly pulled his sleeve over to wipe it off for him: "Brother Zhuang, you're amazing!"
The two walked into the town, all lovey-dovey, and just then they saw the backs of Song Liyun and her group.
Xu Yan'er pouted, snuggled into Xue Zhuang's arms to block his view, and said in a coquettish voice, "Brother Zhuang, you just said how those Di people knelt down and begged for mercy, can you say it again? I like to hear it."
Xue Zhuang had already spotted Song Liyun, but with his beautiful wife trying to please him, he quickly withdrew his attention.
That time, Xu Yan'er was beaten by Song Liyun on the street. She cried for a whole day, and Xue Zhuang ignored her.
Granny Cui threatened to leave again, telling Xue Zhuang to cause trouble for the Song family.
Xue Zhuang was more than happy to see Granny Cui leave; he was trying to avoid the Song family, so why would he want to provoke them?
They immediately asked the brothers in the garrison for help, and raised two taels of silver as a betrothal gift, and sent the person away.
Without her mother's support, Xu Yan'er instantly became sensible, more and more obedient, considerate in her actions, and gentle in her speech, never mentioning Song Liyun again.
Xue Zhuang was naturally happy to have some peace and quiet, and was very annoyed that he hadn't let Granny Cui leave with the migrant workers earlier.
With his wife's support, Xue Zhuang recounted his story of how he had encountered the Di people on a narrow road and defeated them, forcing them to surrender.
After delivering firewood to the nursing home, Song Liyun hurriedly returned to Baolin Residence.
Inside the greenhouse, Song Zhenping was busy wearing only a padded jacket.
The second batch of green beans has already climbed the trellis and is now in bloom, requiring daily artificial pollination.
Seeing Song Zhenping sweating profusely from his busy work, Song Liyun also changed into single shoes, took off her thick coat, rolled up her sleeves, and went into the greenhouse to help.
She learned about artificial pollination from reading to Song Zhenping every day. When she understood the principle, Song Zhenping was so surprised that he couldn't speak for a long time.
Song Zhenping had never seen a greenhouse; at most, he had seen a few scallions and a few baskets of chives that Granny Gu from Xiaoshi Village had placed behind the stove.
These things do not need to reproduce, nor do they need to flower or bear fruit.
Now, when I hear in the book that plants grown in greenhouses will not bear fruit without pollination by bees or other crawling insects, I suddenly understand.
No wonder my first batch of green beans didn't produce pods after flowering; there were no insects.
Song Liyun was also frustrated at the time. Before the apocalypse, she was just an ordinary student and didn't know much about crop growth. During the ten years of the apocalypse, she didn't have the opportunity to grow crops.
So the two quickly planted a second batch. The temperature in the greenhouse was over 20 degrees Celsius, and the plants inside grew very fast, changing every day. Now the second batch of green beans has already started to bloom again.
The brother and sister were busy all morning.
Xiao An cooked lunch for everyone: knife-cut noodles made from wheat flour, topped with chili oil and bok choy, and a bright orange egg nestled inside—a delicious and visually appealing meal.
Xiao An learned all of these by looking at the pictures first and then learning from Song Liyun once.
Song Zhenping ate his noodles with gusto, exclaiming in exaggerated praise, "Xiao An's cooking is so delicious!"
Song Liyun blew away a monkey hair stuck to the edge of the bowl and praised, "I want to eat another bowl today."
Han Ming proved this with his actions. Before anyone else had even started eating, he picked up his small bowl and said, "This bowl is enough for me. Xiao An must be exhausted today."
Xiao An was so flattered that it lost its bearings, covering its mouth and chuckling. Black Gold, with its shifty eyes, hid behind the stove, stuffing half-cooked potatoes into its flowery cotton-padded jacket.
Now that it's cold and the doors and windows are tightly closed, Song Liyun no longer allows roasted potatoes, saying that eating too many will cause bloating and make her fart all the time.
Black Gold was somewhat unconvinced; she farted without making a sound, so how would she know?
Today, Xiao An cooked. She not only roasted potatoes but also cooked a lot of beans, which she plans to eat before going to bed tonight.
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